Automatic cut-off device



R. D. CONKLIN 1,998,221

AUTOMATIC CUT-0F}?- DEVICE Filed July 14, 1935 A ril 16, 1935.

I INVENTQR. Roacpefi Con/(11H Patented Apr. 16, 1935 Roscoe D. Conklin, Rahway, N. J., assignor to I National Pneumatic Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of West Virginia Application July 14,.19ss, ser|a1No.aso,au

' 4 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements inthe combination with a'liquid supply or discharge pipe, of means for automatically cutting off the w of liquid therethrough.

The invention is particularly adapted for use in combination with liquid fuel supply nozzles such as are employed in conjunction with gasoline pumps and the like.

Such devices are provided with a trigger or lever actuated valve for moving it to open position and a spring for returning it to closed position.

An object of this invention is to provide automatically operating apparatus controlled by the liquid fuel level for releasing the main valve so that its spring may close it when the container into which the fuel is being discharged, is filled.

These and many other objects as will appear from the following disclosure, are secured by means of this invention.

This invention resides substantially in the combination, construction, arrangement and relative location of parts, all as will appear more fully in the following specification:

Referring to the drawing:

Figure 1 is a topplan view of the complete device of this invention; 1

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view thereof;

Fig. 3 is a'vertical, central, cross sectional view through the end of the vacuum pipe;

Fig. 4 is a vertical, central, cross sectional view through the valve in the vacuum pipe;

Fig. 5 is a similar view taken at right angles to the view of Fig. 4. a

In the discharge of liquid from a pipe or nozzle into a container, it is often diificult to ascertain when the container is full so that the fuel supply may be cut off without the loss of liquid by overflowing. This difiiculty is ever present in filling,

gasoline tanks on automobiles. When itis desired to fill the tank full of gasoline, unless the operationis carefully supervised, the tendency to fill the tank to over-flowing with a consequent loss of gasoline, is always present.

The prime object of this invention is to pro vide automatically acting apparatus controlled by the liquid level of the liquid in thecontainer for shutting off the supply of liquid thereto when the container is substantially full. of construction of the apparatus'by means of which these objects are obtained, is clearly illustrated in the drawing and will now be described in detail in connection therewith.

In Figs. 1 and 2 a gasoline. discharge nozzle I is shown by way of illustration. This nozzle is provided with a fitting 2 which has therein, a valve 3 having a valve stem 4 extending exteriorly thereof. As shown in Fig. 5 the inner end of the valve stem 4 is provided with a seat 4' for cutting off the flow of gasoline and a spring .closed position and hold it seated. At

The details 4" is positioned to normally urge the vzglve to 15-8 trigger or lever, pivotally mounted on the fitting 2 and. engaging the valve stem 4 by means of which the valve may be unseated against the action of the spring 4". -Pivotally mounted on the fitting at I, is a bell crank lever having the arms 8 and II. Arm 8 isprovided at its lower end 9 with a series of teeth or serrations positioned to be engaged by a suitably shaped nose ill on the end of lever 5. The lever II is operatively connected by a stud 12 to a diaphragm 13 within the casing 1l4, mounted on the nozzle structure. Interposed between the casing I4 and the upper face of diaphragm I3, is a spring l4 which normally holds the diaphragm and the bell crank lever in the position shown in'Fig. 2.

The casing I4 is connected bya branch pipe 15 to a key fitting I6 from which extends in one direction and lying parallel to'the nozzle, a small pipe II. This fpipe terminates adjacent the discharge end of the nozzle 1 as is clearly apparent in Fig. 2. At this point it may be noted that the pipe I! may extend inside of the nozzle, if desired, but a simpler construction results by mounting it adjacent the exterior of the nozzle as shown in Figs. land 2. The lower end of pipe i1 is provided with a coupling member 24 to which is secured a small casing 25 having a number oi. ports as shown and enclosing a small cork or similar ball 26. When the nozzle is in a vertical position. the cork ball 26 falls back to'close the end of the fitting 24. Interposed in the pipe l1, adjacent valve 3 is a ball valve arrangement illustrated in Figures 4 and 5. The pipe I! is provided with a fitting 23 forming a casing having a port 28 and. providing a space for a steel ball 50. The casing is internally constructed to provide two seats ,as shown so that the ball in the position shown in Figure 4, seals the left hand portionof pipe 11. Fitting 23 is provided with an extension to which a tubular casing 30 is attached. Mounted in the casing is a plunger 3| which extends into the chamber of fitting 23 and engages the steel ball III. A spring 32 isin- -terposed between the plunger 3l. .and-a second plunger 33, extending through the lower wall of casing 30. This plunger 33 is connected to or is in a position to be engaged by an arm 28, mounted on the valve stem 4. When the nozzle is in. a vertical position, ball 26 seals pipe 11 at the lower end and steel ball 50 seals thepipe intermediate its ends. When the nozzle is moved down into the tank opening, ball 26 falls to the lower end of casing 25.

. The other end of fitting i8 is connected by pipe [8 to a small tank i9 so as to dischargethereinto. A similar pipe 20 extends from this tank to the suction port of any suitable form of vacuum pump 2| which is provided with a driving pulley 22. The pump may be driven from any suitable power source, which, when the invention is applied to an ordinary pump or nozzle,'may be the electric motor which drives the gasoline pump. As is well known in this art, such pumps are usually provided with a hook upon which the nozzle and hose is mounted when notin use. This hook controls a switch in the motor circuit which is closed when the nozzle and hose is removed from the hook. Thus with this invention the vacuum pump will start in operation when the nozzle is removed from the hook starting the gasoline pump motor. Tank I9 is provided with a small drain cock 22. The nozzle fitting 2 is of course, connected to the usual supply pipe 6 which, in the case of a gasoline pump, is usually a flexible rubber or metal tube connected to the gasoline pump. The tank I9 may be mounted directly on the nozzle or hose, or may be mounted in the gasoline pump casing and pipe l8 may then be a flexible rubber, or metal tube. The bell crank lever ll-8, is provided with a finger operated bolt extension I.

In the operation of this device, the nozzle is removed from the hook with the result that the gasoline pump motor is setin operation and the vacuum pump 2| is likewise set in operation. The nozzle l is then placed in the filling opening of the tank. Lever is then pulled upwardly opening valve 3. The nose III of lever 5 is retained in its lifted position by engagement with the notches on lever 9. When lever 5 is pulled upwardly to open valve 3, extension 28 causes the plunger 3| to force the steel ball 50 on to the seat to close port 29. The spring 32 is provided in this connection to permit any necessary overtravel of the plunger 3| when the lever 5 is operated.

With the pump running, air is drawn through the pipe l1, fitting I6, pipe l8, tank l9, pipe 20, pump casing 2|, and discharged to the atmosphere. When the liquid level rises in the tank it enters casing 25 and causes the light cork or similar ball 26 to float upwardly and to finally seal the end of pipe I! just as the tank is full. The result is that the air is then directly drawn from casing H. Atmospheric pressure operating on the under surface of the diaphragm pushes it upwardly, at the same time operating the bell crank lever to release lever 5. Spring 4" in valve 3, is therefore free to seat the valve 4' and moves the lever 5 back in position as shown in Fig. 2. The closing of valve 3 of courseshuts ofithe supply of gasoline or liquid to the tank and prevents the tank from overflowing. At the same time as valve 3 closes, plunger 3| drops back and trees steel ball 50. Since the vacuum pump is still running, air will be drawn through port 28 in fitting 23 and into pipe ll. When the nozzle is moved to a vertical position the steel ball will fall back to the position shown in Figure 4, sealing pipe 2! With this arrangement it will be seen that little or no gasoline or other liquid can get into pipe ll, the double ball arrangement which prevents this, not interfering with the operation of the device. The nozzle is then lifted to vertical position and replaced on the hook. This stops the pump 2| and diaphragm l3 moves back to normal position under the action of spring l4. Any liquid trapped in tank 19 may be drained therefrom through the cock 22, from time to time. The extension I of the bell crank lever is provided for the purpose of manually releasing lever 5 at any time.

While both the tank I 9 and the double valve arrangement are shown to prevent any liquid reaching the pump, it is apparent that the tank is is not essential and need only be used as an extra safeguard against liquid reaching the pump.

From the above description it will be apparent that this invention resides in certain principles of construction and operation which may be embodied by those skilled in the art in other physical forms without departure from the scope of this invention. I do not desire, therefore to be strictly limited to the disclosure as given for purpose of illustration, but rather to the scope of the appended claims.

What I seek to secure by United States Letters Patent is:

1. A device as described, comprising a liquid discharge nozzle having a valve therein, a lever for unseating said valve, locking means for holding the lever in operating position, a fluid pressure motor connected to said locking lever, an air pipe terminating adjacent the discharge end of the nozzle, means for creating a vacuum in said pipe, a connection between said pipe and said motor, a ball check valve in said air pipe, and means actuated by said lever for unseating said ball check valve when the lever is actuated.

2. A device as described, comprising a liquid discharge nozzle having a valve therein, a lever for unseating said valve, locking means for holding the lever in operating position, a fluid pressure motor connected to said locking lever, an air pipe terminating adjacent the discharge end of the nozzle, means for creating a vacuum in said pipe, a connection between said pipe and said motor, a ball check valve in said air pipe, means actuated by said lever for unseating said ball check valve when the lever is actuated, and a float valve mounted in a casing at the end of said pipe.

3. A device as described comprising a liquid supply nozzle having a spring seated valve therein, a lever for unseating said valve, locking means for holding the lever in actuated position, a fluid pressure motor connected to said locking means, an air pipe terminating adjacent the discharge end of the nozzle, means for creating a vacuum in said pipe, a connection between said pipe and said motor, a fitting in said air pipe forming a casing having an aperture open to the atmosphere and a ball check valve therein, said fltting having a seat for the ball to seal a portion of said air pipe and a seat positioned so that the ball may seal said aperture and means operated by said lever for moving the ball to said second seat to close said aperture.

4. A device as described comprising a liquid supply nozzle having a spring seated valve therein, a lever for unseating said valve, locking means for holding the lever in actuated position, a fluid pressure motor connected to said locking means, an air pipe terminating adjacent the discharge end of the nozzle, means for creating a vacuum in said pipe, a connection between said pipe and said motor, a fitting in said air pipe forming a casing having an aperture open to the atmosphere, a ball check valve therein, said fitting having a seat for the ball to seal a portion of said air pipe, a seat positioned so that the ball may seal said aperture, means operated by said lever for moving the ball to said second seat to close said aperture, and a float valvemounted in an apertured casing attached to the end of said air p pe.

ROSCOE D. CONKLIN. 

